Visiting Scholar Programs - 2017–2018 Fellowship Application

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies awards fellowships to support significant research and writing about the Holocaust. Awards are granted on a competitive basis. We welcome proposals from scholars in all academic disciplines, including but not limited to: anthropology, archeology, art history, geography, film studies, German studies, history, Jewish studies, law, literature, material culture, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, comparative genocide studies, and others.

Application Instructions

In order to save your application, you must complete all of the required fields in the application form as you cannot submit a draft or partial application. If you log out or leave the form before submitting a completed application, the system will not save your application.

Once you submit your application, the systemwill automatically e-mail your references with instructions on how to submit their letters of recommendation. Please keep in mind that your references cannot submit their letters until you submit your application. Therefore, it is better to submit your application early so that the references will be contacted, and then return to your application to make any necessary edits and/or upload the correct CV and project proposal. Applicants may upload any document in pdf format in place of a CV and project proposal. After you submit your application, you may return to the system, log in, and edit your information. All edits must be made by 11:59 p.m. EST on November 15, 2016.

The Mandel Center awards fellowships-in-residence to candidates working on their dissertations (ABD), postdoctoral researchers within five years of receiving their Ph.D., and scholars more than five years beyond the receipt of their Ph.D. as well as senior scholars. Awards are granted on a competitive basis. Because a principal focus of the program is to ensure the development of a new generation of Holocaust scholars, we especially encourage scholars early in their careers to apply. Applicants must be affiliated with an academic and/or research institution when applying for a fellowship. We will also consider immediate post-docs and faculty between appointments. Proposals from applicants conducting research outside the discipline of history or on Mandel Center strategic priorities are especially encouraged, including literature and the Holocaust; America and the Holocaust, projects utilizing the ITS collection; Jewish and especially Sephardic experiences of persecution; the Holocaust as it occurred in the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust as it occurred in North Africa.

The specific fellowship and the length of the award are at the Mandel Center’s discretion. Individual awards generally range up to eight consecutive months of residency; a minimum of three consecutive months is required. No exceptions are allowed. Fellowships of five months or longer have proven most effective.

Stipends range up to $3,700 per month for the purpose of defraying local housing and other miscellaneous living expenses and are subject to US tax law. Residents of the Washington, DC, metropolitan area receive a reduced stipend of $1,850 per month. Awards include a stipend to offset the cost of direct travel to and from Washington, DC. Residents of the Washington, DC, metropolitan area do not receive a travel stipend. The funds provided through this award may be subject to US federal and/or state tax. Please be advised the Mandel Center cannot provide individual tax advice.

The Mandel Center is able to provide visa assistance to fellows and their dependents, if necessary. Fellows are responsible for securing their own housing accommodations and health insurance. We do not provide support allowances for accompanying family members.

Fellowship winners will have access to flexible work space stations, computer, telephone, facsimile machine, and photocopier. We encourage cost-sharing by home institutions or other relevant organizations to extend the residency of the applicant at the Mandel Center or to make possible additional research at other institutions in the Unites States and abroad.

2017–18 Fellowships may start as early as August 1, 2017, and must be completed no later than December 31, 2018.

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

All applications must be submitted in English via this online application process. All applications must consist of the following:

This online application form

A project proposal, in PDF format, not to exceed five single-spaced pages

A curriculum vitae summary, in PDF format, not to exceed four single-spaced pages

Two signed letters of recommendation that speak to the significance of the proposed project and the applicant’s ability to carry it out. Members of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council’s Academic Committee may not write letters of recommendation. Only two letters will be considered. Any additional letters will not be included in the applicant’s file. All application materials, including letters of recommendation for the 2017–18 competition should be received on November 15, 2016, and come directly from the references, not from the applicant. Directions on how to submit letters of recommendation will be e-mailed to the references only after the applicant "submits" their application. Please note the deadline for all materials.

Applicants who have received a fellowship award from the Mandel Center in previous cycles may not re-apply unless seven years have passed since the end date of their previous residency.

Successful project proposals should highlight the resources available at the Museum that scholars will need to access in order to support their research. An addendum listing these resources may be attached in addition to the five-page project proposal. Important resources may also be referenced in the body of the project proposal. To search the Museum’s holdings, visit http://collections.ushmm.org/search/.

Decisions for the 2017–18 Fellowship Competition will be announced in late April, 2017.